Ramaswamy Campaign Admits It’s Behind Inflammatory Ad Featuring Rival’s Estranged Mother

L: Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo; R: AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed that it produced the widely condemned ad featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother attacking her daughter — and is now spending a whopping $4 million to air it statewide.

According to a Tuesday Axios report, Ramaswamy’s campaign is standing firmly behind the minute-long video, which features Donna Arthur accusing Acton of lying about her troubled childhood and urging Ohio voters not to support her.

The ad first surfaced online late Monday with no indication of who was responsible, prompting speculation that Ramaswamy or his supporters were behind the attack.

His campaign declined to deny responsibility when questioned earlier Tuesday, instead branding Acton a “serial fabulist.”

Now, according to Axios’ Alex Isenstadt, Ramaswamy’s team has confirmed it produced the spot and is putting $4 million toward broadcasting it across Ohio, beginning Tuesday night. Sources with connections to the campaign told the outlet that testing the ad with “persuadable” voters went favorably.

“This is a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton. The people who know her best keep warning Ohioans about her,” Ramaswamy campaign manager Jonathan Ewing told Axios.

As mentioned, the decision comes despite major backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike.

The Democratic candidate has spoken publicly for years about the abuse and neglect she suffered as a child, including sexual abuse by her stepfather, whom her mother defended. She told Spectrum News that she and her brother, Philip Stearns, were removed from Arthur’s custody when she was 12 “for severe abuse and neglect and sexual abuse,” and that she hasn’t spoken to her since.

Stearns slammed Ramaswamy for “platforming their estranged and abusive mother,” calling the attack a “despicable low.”

Meanwhile, just before the Axios news broke, the Republican was brutally heckled during a town hall, with an angry protester confronting him about the ad almost immediately after he took the stage.

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